Backyard Poultry Forum

put it in water

As I previously mentioned here I boil around 8eggs in a batch in my rice cooker.

The last batch I did I was really busy with other things at the same time so initially I forgot I'd got the eggs out of the fridge. They were left sitting on the bench for a good few hours & came completely to room temp around 25C probably.

So finally I started the rice cooker & boiled the eggs how I usually do them by adding them to warm water that has some ACV in it. They usually boil for 6mins once water is boiling. But I didn't hear the alarm & again forgot them & they boiled for 40mins! Oh my goodness what a shock to come back into the kitchen to find the rice cooker still boiling merrily away!

I almost threw them into the running tap water to cool. I usually peel & eat a few right then.
I was expecting them to be all green inside from over cooking, but no, they were fine with nice yellow yolks, not all dry either.

So I ate a few right there. But as I began to peel them, the shells just fell right off clean as you please. These eggs were a month old as I have had a mini glut due to one buyer being away all over xmas. They had larger than usual air cells in the ends so they lifted up a bit at the air cell end in the water.

My usual method is to warm the water & add ACV then get the fresh eggs out of the fridge & place in water to bring to boil then boil for 6mins. Remove to a bowl & run tap water on to cool. The eggs are kept in half doz egg cartons in the door shelves of a moist chill fridge. They never peel well ever.

This latest time I boiled eggs, the method was allow old eggs to come completely to room temp, place in warm water with ACV, bring to boil & boil for 40mins, remove to bowl & run under tap water to cool. They peeled perfectly!

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ClissaT

going through the process of getting organic certification for my property but horse & chook worming throwing a big spanner in the works

Favourite saying: Madness is doing the same thing over & over, but expecting a different result! -Einstein

Having posted the above variant 'forgetfulness method' it reminded me that it was time to boil another 8eggs.
So I decided to try to prove the above method.
I got 8 old eggs(36days old) from the fridge & allowed to come to room temp.
I warmed the water in rice cooker, added ACV, added eggs, watched the water come to boil then boiled for 6mins.
I must add here that I usually use Julian's eggs because they are so large at around 90grams each.
I removed the eggs to a bowl & ran tap water over to cool.
They did peel but it was a bit of an effort to get the shells off cleanly.
The shells certainly did not fall off cleanly as they had done at the time I forget them whilst cooking.

So it seems for me the difference is the time they boil for.
Previously I have used fresh eggs but discovered old eggs peeled well.
So next week I will use old eggs & boil for longer to see if they peel easier.

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ClissaT

going through the process of getting organic certification for my property but horse & chook worming throwing a big spanner in the works

Favourite saying: Madness is doing the same thing over & over, but expecting a different result! -Einstein

Hmmm - interesting experiment ClissaTsoyfreechooks - will be interested in your results.

Yes the method using older eggs (at least 3wks old) & boiling for longer works a treat for me.
I took one egg out of the rice cooker after 10mins & it did not peel very well.
I left the other 9 in for another 10mins & once cooled, they peeled perfectly.
I was using 90gm eggs from my white Bond Farms commercial layer.
These eggs have a much stronger white & yolk than normal eggs because those chooks were developed for the commercial bulk separated wet egg trade.
So normal eggs would not take so long to cook to peeling stage.

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ClissaT

going through the process of getting organic certification for my property but horse & chook worming throwing a big spanner in the works

Favourite saying: Madness is doing the same thing over & over, but expecting a different result! -Einstein

Thanks for the results of your experiments - and good luck with the organic certification.

Should you feel like starting a thread on that topic I would be very interested to read it!.

Last night I used 10 4wk old normal 60-70g eggs & got same results leaving them in to cook 15mins then cooling under running water & peeling straight away. The shells broke in half with a slight tap on the sink & slipped right off.


Now regarding organic status TookTook, that is a nightmare!
I am having serious second thoughts about the certification process.
It seems due to having my horses I can't get certification on the whole property, so now we are concentrating on just the house yard, extended garden & orchard areas which includes the chook space.
I have a rental granny flat over in one part of my garden which is impossible to keep organic because people lie through their teeth about what they do, buy & use for cleaning, gardening & pet use.
I already have to keep the horses out of the house yard & orchard because it seems impossible to make them organic due to requiring worming every 3mths after faecal egg count is done. I used to let them in to trim the edges, etc but now have to use a brushcutter & do more mowing which is not in keeping with a non chemical MO.
Then there's the chooks. Again worming is a big issue since I just had to do them with moxidectin.
But the other thing I have learned is that when a flock of young pullets is installed in a paddock or specially cleaned barn, they get no real health attention for the duration of their stay. That theoretically makes them organic. Then they begin to get sick from all sorts of usual commercial chook related things so the whole flock is sent for processing & of course the farmer gets a premium because those birds are technically organic even though many of them may actually be very sick.
The only reason they are organic is because they are young enough to have not needed lots of chemical or medication intervention. That's how meat birds get to be organic.
That's not the way I want to do things here. I want my birds around for the duration of their natural life. I'm not having enough success keeping critters at bay inside the hen house to say I will never need chemical intervention. Certified Organic feeds are very expensive & I now know that I may not actually get what I pay for as some companies use imported components.
And so it goes on.

_________________
ClissaT

going through the process of getting organic certification for my property but horse & chook worming throwing a big spanner in the works

Favourite saying: Madness is doing the same thing over & over, but expecting a different result! -Einstein

Last night I used 10 4wk old normal 60-70g eggs & got same results leaving them in to cook 15mins then cooling under running water & peeling straight away. The shells broke in half with a slight tap on the sink & slipped right off.


Now regarding organic status TookTook, that is a nightmare!

Interesting on the egg peeling but oh how sad about the organic process! - I am truly appalled on many levels but especially that farmers can sell unwell birds for human consumption. How can this be?

I am so sorry for your frustrations! I hope you find a way to overcome them.